What we're harvesting in the July garden

July garden at sunset

Sunday, July 19, 2025

This July's garden is a bit behind for some summer vegetables.  We had a typical spring with cool days into May.  I planted most of the veggies in late April.  I had to resow beans and squash so they are behind.  Peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and okra are about normal.

We are harvesting eggplant, cucumbers, hot peppers, sweet peppers, sprouting broccoli, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, dill, summer greens, herbs, garlic, onions, blackberries, raspberries, goji berries, aronia berries and tomatoes.  The flowers are very happy, too!  

We are getting rain a few times a week even into July.  The grass is green and growing like crazy.  If I don't get at least 1" of rain during the week, I do a deep watering with a drip hose.  I have only had to water the garden beds once this season.  Summer garden tips

I need to dig the garlic.  Garlic harvest is here!  I'll pickle the smaller cloves and save the larger cloves for fall planting.  Have garlic any time you need it, just pickle some!  I've found this is the best way to preserve garlic for using year round.  I tried keeping the whole cloves, but most would disintegrate by early winter.

I just started getting ripe tomatoes at the end of June.  Most look good, but a Cherokee Purple produced a prolific flush of tomatoes and then died.  The production is really slowing down right now.  We are back into the 90's.  Tomatoes will drop flowers when it gets too hot.  For what we can't eat, I freeze to save for making soups, sauces, roasts, and salsa all winter.  Preserving your extra tomatoes

Cucumbers started producing at the end of last month.  I had to do a second planting this year as one variety didn't make it from the seeds sown in late April.  I just direct sowed seed in the garden in mid-June and it is doing well now.  I planted Bush Champion and Beit Alpha.  The Bush Champion are ready for picking.  The Beit Alpha is blooming so won't be long!  

If you have more cucumbers than you can eat, make pickles!  Make your own pickles without a store bought seasoning mix

I planted a Trombetta zucchini in our new berry bed and it hasn't grown more than 6".  I started another that I will transplant into an existing bed in the next couple of days.  I'll need to add a good layer of compost on the berry bed to make it more productive next season.  Everything you need to know to grow squash 

 Only the Turkish Orange eggplant has produced so far.  The other varieties I planted, Bianca Rosa and Amadeo are large, but have not started blooming.  I have been using diatomaceous earth on the eggplant and orach greenery to keep the flea beetle population in check on the eggplants.  They just decimate the leaves in our garden.  All my eggplant are grown in pots.  I tried letting them "come in balance" for the last 5 years, but no luck.  Just be sure to not put de powder on the flowers.  Even though de is an organic use, it does not differentiate between good and bad insects.  We don't typically have many extra eggplant to preserve.  I have tried the freezing route in the past, but have not been impressed with the taste.  The best preservation method I have found is to make baba ganoush. Everything you need to know to grow eggplant, in a pot or garden bed

  I freeze the extra strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, blanching is not needed for these fruits to preserve the flavor.  I dry the goji berries.  

I am using purple and green orach, Hilton Chinese cabbage, kale, sprouting broccoli, New Zealand spinach, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, herbs, chijimisai and cultivated dandelions for salads.   For kale, sprouting broccoli, mustard and other summer greens extras, I will blanch and freeze them.  Freezing the extras for winter

For hot peppers, I am harvesting Jigsaw, Chiltepin, and Tunisian Baklouti.  The Poblano plants have many peppers but are not turning yet.  For sweet peppers, so far on the Tricked You Jalapeño has ripened.  The chocolate sweet pepper and Habanada have lots of peppers but are not turning yet.  Everything you need to know to grow peppers, in a pot or garden  

For all my herbs, there is plenty to use fresh with extras to harvest.  I will dry them. I have thyme, basil, oregano, winter savory, tarragon, rosemary, sage, and lavender to preserve.   Harvest and preserve your herbs  This year, I don't need to preserve basil as I have lots of pesto left from the last couple of years in the freezer.  Pesto is my favorite way of preserving basil.  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil  

Oregano, basil, thyme, and lavender is in full bloom.  The bees love the flowers!  It could be cut and dried now, but I love the flowers and will wait until fall.

We are harvesting the vegetables and fruits that are synonymous with a backyard garden.  Soon it will be time to plant for continuing the harvest into fall and winter.  The garden keeps me busy year round.  It is so nice to be able to watch things grow and have fresh produce all year.